Easy Common Sense Steps to Reduce Your Energy Bills Without Giving Up Your Gadgets

Often when we get the electric bill in our mailbox our heart skips a beat because we know that the amount will shock us. No matter how much we prepare, and if you are like me you put that bill to the side and think about how high it will be. Every month as we grumble about how expensive it is we forget to think about the actual steps we need to take to effect a chance. Here are a few easy steps to effect a lasting change in the amount of your electric bill.

Step one: You must get the cooperation of all your family members in your quest to save electricity. If you show them how easy it is you will ensure their cooperation. You can also give them concrete tips on saving electricity like turning off the lights as they leave the room and turning off all the appliances including video games when not watching. You can offer incentives if their changes have resulted in savings.

Step two: Sometimes we leave lights on without thinking of the ramifications. Some of the often forgotten lights are exterior home lights and night lights. Some lights are needed but consider replacing exterior flood lights with motion detector lights and only put night lights in the rooms that they are actually needed. Taking these small steps can result in long-term savings by reducing usage.

Step three: The easiest thing to do without disrupting your whole household is to replace all the incandescent bulbs present in your home with compact fluorescent light or those CFL bulbs. These bulbs use less electricity give our the same or if not more light.

Step four: It's well worth it to spend the money for the new energy saver gadgets that are sold in the local hardware stores. They will monitor you total household usage and make it easy for you to adjust your usage as needed.

Step five: We usually assume that the our high electricity bill is due to the number of electrical gadgets we have but many times its dependent on the way they are used. We should only wash clothes when we have a full loan, wash dishes when the dishwasher is full or just wash by hand, and we can turn off as many electrical gadgets when they are not being used.

Step six: Lastly, the best way to reduce or even eliminate your electricity bill is to generate your own energy at home using free, renewable energy sources. In this way we can save energy, take care of the environment all the while putting thousands back into our pockets. We can reduce our dependence on our electric company and use renewable wind, sun, etc at a reasonable price.